Ollie Middleton, 18, chosen to fight Bath for Labour at 2015 general election

An 18-year-old student has persuaded Labour campaigners in Bath to choose him to represent the party in the next general election through his “sheer passion.”

They say the performance of former Ralph Allen School pupil Ollie Middleton at a selection meeting was “quite astonishing” and are confident one of the youngest hopefuls ever picked will begin to transform the party’s fortunes.

The international relations and politics student at Westminster University will be attempting to boost Labour’s appeal in a city where the party has struggled to break a Liberal Democrat stranglehold which saw sitting MP Don Foster increase his majority in 2010.

Bath Labour Party secretary Diana Page said: “I have every sympathy with anyone who says ‘what on earth have you done?’

“But at the meeting, his sheer passion - and passion for Bath - and his sheer energy came across. I have been at many selection meetings over the years but I have never been at one where there was such universal joy and approval.

“Nobody was saying ‘what have we done?’ It’s astonishing, but he is actually quite an astonishing young man. He is very, very single-minded.”

Mrs Page - who stood herself in London in 1979 - said: “People were coming up afterwards, saying ‘I haven’t been very involved in the past few years, but I am going to get out and work for that young man.’”

Mr Middleton, who will be 20 at the time of the election in 2015 but was born three years into Mr Foster's tenure, said he thought he had impressed people with his passion and his determination to listen to grassroots opinions.

“I want to listen to people. I know that is the most effective way to relate to people because I have been doing it on a weekly basis.”

He said he had experience of the issues young people felt were important as well as an insight into the problems of older voters, and he added: “I have a brilliant team around me.”

Mr Middleton, who was born in North Wales but grew up in Bath, said he was also determined to continue to be a normal young person.

“I do have balance in my life. My friends and my social life are very important to me.”

Bath Labour Party said it was “excited at selecting such a young, enthusiastic and committed candidate.”

Vice-chair Hilary Fraser said: “This country wants change from the cruelties and indifference of the current Government. Bath people deserve hope, not despair. The community here will very soon find that Labour has a vitality and purpose in the team we plan to field for the local elections, in company with Oliver Middleton. His Labour values are hard won. He will inspire. He will lead. He will understand. He will get things done.”

Mr Middleton, who founded Bath Young Labour, added: “I am absolutely thrilled to have been given the chance to represent Labour in my home city. I’ve enjoyed the selection process which has been robust and competitive. However, the real work starts now. The Bath Labour Party is campaigning on issues that affect the people of Bath including the proposed closure of children’s centres and it offers a real and positive alternative to the Lib Dem policies. Our campaigning work will continue to engage directly with local people. I will listen to the people of Bath and fight for the issues that matter to them.”

Mr Foster – first elected in 1992 – is in the process of deciding whether to stand for one more election in 2015.

One of those tipped as a possible replacement for him, Hertfordshire councillor Chris Lucas, was out campaigning with Lib Dems in the city centre at the weekend.

31 comments

@MoeXXX I was at the meeting, were you? I was much surprised that the Labour candidate was outlining a local nuclear armaments policy that is contrary to the Labour party policy at UK level. Indeed as you say, how can the local party have a different policy on this matter? Looking at the Bath Labour Party website, there is no mention of this local policy. Ollie explained that there had been a vote on it in their branch, surely the Bath branch would wish to mention the results of their vote by publishing it on their website?
I spoke briefly with Ollie both before and after the public meeting at the Quaker's Meeting House. He is a personable young man, the Bath branch has done well to select him. I do genuinely wish him well in his political career (although obviously not excessively well in the 2015 election!). How is it that the local Labour branch has lost its way so badly? Do they really want to set him at odds with Labour HQ regarding defence policy? Moe, you obviously are not in a position to answer my questions, so could you please contact someone in the Bath Labour branch who would be able to give a detailed account of this matter, and place their reasoned arguments here in the public domain. Thankyou.

He comes across as a decent chap, I met him in person yesterday (Friday). We both were on the panel discussing our nuclear deterrent, at the Quaker's Meeting House in Bath. Also present were spokesmen for the Green Party, CND, and Don Foster for the Lib Dems. I was there representing UKIP. The Conservative candidate pulled out, as did their substitute speaker. The extract from the Conservative Party manifesto had to be read out by the organiser of the event. Don did his best to explain the Lib Dem policy on deterrence, which being a typical Lib Dem fudge is of course illogical and would not be a real operational deterrent anyway, whilst costing around 90% of what would be needed to be spent to give us a full deterrent capability.
What did surprise me is that it transpired that the local Labour party has a different policy regarding our nuclear deterrent than the main Labour party. Could any Labour commenters here explain how that anomaly is permitted to arise? Can the local Labour party have a separate policy on say immigration or EU membership? It seems an untenable stance to be so radically different from the party headquarters policy. It would be a shame for the local Labour party branch to hamper the political career of this young man when he is just starting out, by obliging him to argue for an untenable position on policy matters.

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Capndave & Geoff: Our system does at times have a mind of its own. But through @bathchron I tweeted a link to our initial story at 9.56am on Sunday, while this link also shows the story has been online for two days now.
http://tinyurl.com/o4hq3ll